


The Best Mistakes

by IRL_Robin



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Library, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt, Family Drama, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Jason Todd is Alive, Jason Todd is Robin, Jason-Centric, Teen Angst, Teen Years
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-07-04
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10660884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRL_Robin/pseuds/IRL_Robin
Summary: Jason Todd was just a normal teenage superhero, who's whole world was just turned upside down. Surviving living on the streets is one thing. Surving the Joker is another thing. But surving getting fired from being Robin? This is going to be a wild ride.Maybe his family and new friends can help him out? Or maybe he's just destined to fall into something deeper than he's ever been before.





	1. The Heartbroken.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my friends, Ara (@redtodd on tumblr) and Gemma (@timdrakee on tumblr) for editing! You can find me at @blackstephaniebrown on tumblr! Enjoy the first chapter!

 

>  

This has been happening every night, it’s become something of a routine by now.

Bruce and Jason would go out to fight crime, he’d say Jason’s being too much, they’d argue, and Jason would get sent home. It’s been that way since Jason went after his biological mom. Though Jason knows deep down that if Bruce had the chance to get his parents back, he would take it too. But Bruce had his one chance, the chance to kill the Joker, to finally wipe that sorry excuse of a clown off the earth. The thought of that green haired, slimy creep still makes Jason's skin crawl. Jason remembers his long creepy smile, the cold metal of the crowbar and that god awful laugh. His body shivers at the thought of the clown still lurking in Gotham, running free and bringing chaos to the citizens.

  
Jason stares off into the cave, where every one of both Bruce and Dick’s accomplishments stands in triumph. He wonders when one of his own victories will be showcased in the cave among them. Jason scowls, crossing his arms and leaning back into the bat computer chair.

  
"Good evening, Master Jason. Deep in thought, I see."

  
"Hey, Alfred."

  
"It seems you’ve had a hard night," Alfred muses, noticing the bruise on Jason’s cheek. Jason isn’t surprised to see he already has the first aid kit in hand.

  
"Yeah, but Penguin’s men got it a lot worse.” he offers the old man a lopsided smile that drops at the sound of the batmobile. The wheels of the batmobile screech to a stop before Bruce jumps out.

“Good evening, Master Bruce," Alfred greets while placing a bandage on Jason’s cheek.

“Good evening, Alfred.” Bruce power walks to the batcomputer. Jason waits until he stops by the chair before begrudgingly getting up. Bruce sits down and begins typing away on the computer.

“How was the rest of patrol? Since, you know, you sent me home.” Jason leans on the side of the chair with his arms folded. Bruce lets out a dry sigh, not turning away from the computer. Jason fixes his gaze at the screen and waits for a reply. He knows his words can always gets under Bruce’s skin.

“Jason, we’re not starting this again.”

“I'm not starting anything. I'm just asking a simple question.”

“No, you're not. You're getting smart with me and I said we're not repeating tonight.”

“Funny, I’m pretty sure we’ve been repeating tonight for months now. But I guess you didn't notice, too busy paying more attention to freaks in bondage than your own kid.” Jason’s words hiss out like vemon.

“Jason, we need to talk.” Jason steps back as Bruce finally turns the batchair around from the computer and stands in front of Jason.

“We _are_ talking.”

“Jason, you knew the responsibility and the sacrifices you would have to make when you became my partner.”

“Get to the point, old man.” Jason snaps, his voice booming against the cave walls.

"Jason, you're my son,” At Bruce’s words, Jason freezes, tears stinging in his eyes. "You're my first adopted son. I can't have you out on the field anymore. Not after what happened.” He pauses, “and I don't care how long it's been, Jason.”

"Bruce, what do you mean?" Jason interrupts.

Bruce pulls off his cowl, before firmly grabbing Jason by his shoulders. Jason tenses, arms dropping by his sides and hands curling into shaking fists. "Jason, you're fired."

Jason's jaw drops, breath catching. Everything he’s trained for, down the drain.

"Jay, You know I’ve always wanted a normal life for you." Bruce lowers his voice, becoming more gravelly, and Jason can barely hear him over the pounding of his heart against his chest, the blood rushing in his ears.

"This is normal to me, Bruce." Tears begin to fall from Jason's eyes. To Jason, being Robin isn't a job, it’s an experience. When he puts on that mask, it is almost as if he has magic, and Jason doesn't want to let go of that magic.  
  
"It's not healthy for you, it never was. This was the only thing I could think of, Jason." Bruce finally confesses.

"It's fine, because I quit being your toy soldier.” Jason roars, ripping away from Bruce’s hold.

Not sparing Bruce a last glance, Jason storms out of the cave before he could get another word out. He isn't giving up his mantle without a fight.

Jason doesn’t really have a clue on where he's swinging to, but anywhere away from Bruce is fine with him.

* * *

_Why_ would he fire him? After all the things they’ve gone through together? Bruce getting hypnotized by the cult. Jason hitting him with a tire iron when they first met. Joker almost killing him and Bruce saving him at the last second.

What’s _happened_ to them being the dynamic duo?

Jason finally lands at one of his favorite places. He sits on a rooftop a couple of blocks away from crime alley. Coming back to his old home often helps him in times like these, when he needs to clear his head. He breathes in the cold air and takes in the scenario. Crime Alley has a worn out, urban feel than any fancy manor can top. He feels at peace for a moment as the sounds of the city echo around him.

“Looks like the little bird’s decided to fly solo.” Nightwing stands him above and smiles. Jason is surprised he hadn’t noticed him swinging around in the first place. He’s rarely kept tabs on Dick’s whereabouts, seeing as they weren't of any use to him in the first place. “So how's the dream team doing?” Dick questions.

“Dream team? I hope that old fart chokes on fear toxin. We’re not a dream team.” Jason curses.

Dick raises an eyebrow. "Well, that's a little harsh."

Jason simply scowls in response.

"Hey, what's going on?" Dick kneels down, before sitting next to Jason.

"He fired me. Honestly, I just feel like I was better off getting killed by the Joker at this point.” Jason admits, his tone nearing hysterical. He didn't even realize he had let the last part slip out. He's been keeping his feelings locked up, letting them eat him up inside for months without a second thought; his whole body goes numb at the thought of being vulnerable in front of Dick of all people.

"Jason." Dick looks at Jason sadly, placing a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

  
"Okay, never mind, you dick.” Jason pushes his hand off with great force.

"Jason." Jason averts his gaze, arms folded in frustration. Dick can't tell what's running through the kid's head. Jason and him aren't really that close; if anything, they're barely friends. When they first met, Dick was too busy being mad at Bruce to notice him. The sky had finally caved in on him when Jason almost died, too many _what ifs_ plaguing Dick’s mind when he’d found out. _What if he had stopped Jason from going? What if he had tried to show Jason that he is his family?_ But there are no _what ifs_ anymore, with Dick finally putting his ‘okay older brother’ PhD to some use. He knows he has to help him out. Jason's his little brother, and what little bit of help he can offer can go a long way.

Dick feels a wave of anger and determination wash over him. He isn't going to let Jason fall again, he’s ready to be his safety net.

"Jason, if you need a place to crash, Wally and I are more than willing to welcome you with open arms.” Dick pats Jason’s shoulder before standing up and Jason's eyes widen with shock, but he quickly regains his scowl. “I'll see ya later."

"Okay."

Dick swings off towards Blüdhaven, thoughts clouding his mind.

* * *

 

"Wally, it’s so freaking crappy.” Dick’s hands ball into fists as he speaks.

Wally simply listens to Dick, fully attentive. Graded and ungraded papers are sprawled across the dining table, as Wally's been grading last minute assignments from his students all afternoon. Honestly, he doesn't mind the break Dick is giving him. Though it isn’t really a break when you're being the voice of reason, anyway.

Dick hasn’t stopped talking about Jason’s situation since he got off his night job. Whatever Bruce’s done, it really didn't sit well with Dick. In fact, come to think of it, most things Bruce does don’t sit well with anyone.  
  
“He doesn't know how to talk to people without dropping bombshells like this. If he wasn't already off planet side, I would be-”

**TIP TIP TIP**

  
"Hey, Dickie, I think there's a little bird perched on the fire escape." Wally’s voice rings out.

Dick creeps over to the window and pops it open with all the strength he can muster. He grunts, before his eyes sparkle with a glimmer of hope. Jason kneels down from the fire escape. He has a large backpack slung over his shoulder, decked out in his Robin suit.

  
"So what's for dinner?"

* * *

 

Sleeping on the couch is truly a pain in the neck. Dealing with two shower hogs didn't work either. If Jason is to be honest, the only great thing about this set up is that it's -

  
**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP**

Wally's eyes rip open in fear. He's late for work.

He jumps out of bed at super speed and runs to the joint bathroom, too alarmed to be mindful not to wake his sleeping husband in his rush. Wally lets himself slip into relative time, speeding through his morning routine before he’s out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. Slowing down, he pours himself a glass of orange juice, eyes flickering to the clock on the wall. He’s too distracted to notice Dick walk out of their bedroom, blinking blearily at the bright light.

Dick comes to a stop behind Wally, arms slipping around his waist and head tilting to press a kiss to his jawline. Wally giggles and squirms a bit. Wally’s about to apologize for waking him up when he speaks, voice muffled from where he’s pressed his face into Wally’s neck.

"It's Saturday, goofball. That wasn't your alarm." Dick chuckles, nosing at Wally’s neck before stepping back. Wally blushes bashfully, realising he’s completely lost track of time. He turns around, letting his cheek rest on top of Dick’s head, breath ruffling his hair when he speaks.

"Who's alarm was it t-"

"Jason's." Dick cuts him off before reaching around Wally to grab his drink, leaning back and taking a sip of orange juice.

They hear the shower in the guestroom bathroom turn off before Jason walks out, wearing a nice button up and some jeans. Carrying his shoes in hand, the boy walks into the kitchen and opens the fridge.

"Morning." He doesn’t seem to care about the display of affection that he’s just walked in on. "Do you have anything in this fridge that can be salvaged to make an actual breakfast or do you guys just live on snacks?" Jason closes the fridge, walks over to the cabinets, and starts rummaging through them. "Nevermind, I'll head to a 7/11 instead." As he speaks, Jason puts the empty box of gushers in the trash.

  
"Hey, your random seven in the morning alarm went off and woke us up." Dick steps away from Wally and turns to face his brother, folding his arms and leaning back on the kitchen counter.

  
"Oh dam- dang. I meant dang,” Jason amends. “Sorry, that's when Alfred gets up. I help him make breakfast on Saturdays."

  
"Alfred let's you help make breakfast? I never got to do that." Dick gives Wally a clearly hurt look, pouting when Wally just shakes his head in amusement.

"Well duh, you almost caught the toaster on fire." Jason retorts.

  
"Who told you that?"

  
"Barbie."

  
"Of course."

  
"And, what are you all dressed up for? You hanging out with someone special?" Wally smiles and winks at him, nudging Dick to the side with his hip as he reaches for another glass from the cabinet.

  
"First, I'm single. Second, I have a job." Jason sits on the couch next to the folded blankets. He must have folded them when he got up to take a shower. Jason slips on his shoes with a huff.

Dick almost spits out the orange juice he’s drinking. "Bruce, let you get a job?"

"Third thing, he doesn't know I have a job. Or he doesn't bring it up, either way, I couldn’t care less. It's my responsibility anyway, not his.” Jason continues tying his shoes in a rush. “And he’s all about responsibility, isn’t he?”

"Aren't you like 15? Isn't that illegal?” Wally shoots him a puzzled expression.

"I just turned 17." Jason finishes tying his shoes. "And it's for volunteer credit.” Jason stands up from the couch and stretches. He fixes his clothes and picks up his backpack before walking towards the front door.

Dick exits the kitchen, making his way towards the door before grabbing his car keys. "You need a ride?" Jason gives him a questioning look.

"Nah, I'm taking the subway." He flashes his subway card at him. “Bye.” Jason swings open the door, before walking out and slamming it closed.

  
Dick stares at the door for a second before he sets his keys back in their place and turns to look at his husband. “Wanna go back to bed?”

“Yes, _please.”_

 


	2. He's Here and He's Not Afraid.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal day at the Library for Jason Todd. Maybe, we should grab some lunch during your break?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 2 in the morning and I am super achey. So I'll make this super quick! Thank you to my friends, Ara (@redtodd on tumblr) and Gemma (@timdrakee on tumblr) for editing! You can find me at @blackstephaniebrown on tumblr. See you for Chapter 3! 
> 
> EDIT 6/18- Yo! It's Robin from the future! It's 5 in the morning, so I'll make this super quick. I didn't really notice the ugly double spacing in between paragraphs until now, so I decided to change that before the next chapter! Now the aesthetic of chapter one matches chapter two! I'll see you soon for the next update hopefully with chapter three! If you want to be first to know when chapter three and other new chapters or new fics are up, I suggest you follow my Tumblr, @jaykyle for little updates (and maybe even spoilers..) for Best Mistakes and more! See you soon!

The best thing about working with little kids is that they’re always excited to see you.

“Mr.Jason! Mr.Jason! Mr.Jason!”one kid shouted.

“Mr.Jason, what are we reading for story time?” Another kid asked.

“Hopefully something with a happy ending.” Jason flashes them a smile.

The second best thing? Little kids are honest.

“Mr. Jason your breath smells like coffee.” A little girl made a stink face at him.

“Oh, thanks, Ara.” Jason quickly searches for breath mints in his backpack.

Jason walks over to the young readers’ section of the library. He runs his fingers along the spines of the books. One of the little girls, Gemma, stands beside the shelf waiting for the book choice.

“The Rainbow Fish? That's a classic. Have we read the Rainbow Fish yet?”

Most of the kids nodded no.

“Well, okay then. We're reading the Rainbow Fish.” Jason announced.

The kids happily ran to the mat, excitedly yelling as they did so. All of their hopeful eyes focused on Jason’s fruity voice. In order to make the read more entertaining, Jason gives each of the characters their own silly voice, causing adorable laughter to echo throughout the library.

Soon the book came to an end. Jason escorts the kids to their parent and continues on with his normal duties.

 

* * *

Jason walks over to the checkout counter.

“I'm here to pay for an overdue fine.”

The guy appears to be around the same age as Jason. He has his head down as he shuffles through his wallet, scavenging for every penny he can find.

“Can you give me your library card?” Jason asks absent mindedly. Same shit, different day to him.

“Sure.” The young man lifts up his head and smiles. Jason wonders if it’s normal to see someone so beautiful that he has the urge to cry. Jason slowly takes the library card out of his hands, trying to make the touch last longer than it should. Jason and the young man lock eyes for moment, gaping at one another. The silence stretches out, as if both boys are simply waiting for the other to say the first word. Everything in the world suddenly feels slow, almost as if Jason and this young man's lives just connected in that split second. In this moment, they are the only ones who exist.

“You mind letting go of my card?” The young man asked.

Jason finally comes back to his senses, Mr. Rayner, or at least that's what he read on his card, smiles at him again. Wow, he's really dreamy for a guy with a book that's almost a year overdue. Jason smirks at him as they exchanged the library card and the money.

“I think I've seen you around,” Rayner states. Jason turns his head away from the computer, and puts both hands on his hips. It finally clicked. “Aren't you that cute guy from the library? The one who works with little kids?” Rayner questions. Jason softly bites his bottom lip to keep from smiling and nods in affirmation.

“By the way, there's a lot of cute guys around here. I don't think I'm the only one,” Jason criticizes.

“I don't know, I've only noticed you walking around here,” Kyle acknowledges as he scans the library, like he's trying to look for other cute guys to check out.

“Well, maybe you should keep your eyes open a lot more,” Jason instructs.

“Yeah, your mom,” Kyle teases. “By the way, I'm Kyle. Tell me, Sassy Librarian, what's your name?”

“It's Jason. Nice to meet you,” he says.

They shake hands. Jason can tell this guy rarely shakes hands with anyone. He watches as Kyle gets stiff as they shake hands for way too long than a normal person should.

Kyle checks his wallet again, before sliding it into his back pocket. “Wow, I guess I'm not eating tonight,” Kyle confesses.

“Well, I can take you out to dinner.” The offer slips out before Jason can even process it. He immediately freezes, silently cursing his quick mouth.

“You know if you want to? You're probably really busy,” Jason says hesitantly, trying to back track on the offer as fast as possible.

Kyle rubs the back his neck. “Um, no. No! Like no, I'm not busy or anything.” Kyle’s face begins to turn red as he rambles on to the point of no return. Jason covers his mouth, holding back his laughter.

“Yeah, I get what you mean.” Jason finally stops him before Kyle rambles himself off a cliff. “My shift is over in couple minutes, so you think of a place to eat and I'll clock out. Okay?” Jason smiles and walks away with a chart books.

 

* * *

“I went out with a friend after work.” Jason confesses. He chills on the sofa with Dick right beside him, while looking for apartments online.

“Ooo a friend, what's their name?” Dick coos.

“His name is Kyle and we’re just friends,” Jason aggressively corrects.

“Oww, Kyle,” Dick coos again, somehow even more annoyingly. Ugh, older brothers.

Jason ignores him, and continues looking for an apartment. Dick and Wally are fine with him staying with them, but he’s never been one to stay at one place for so long. “I think that building’s somewhat near us.” Dick points at Jason’s laptop screen. Jason adds it to his favorites. Dick stretches his whole body out, making his suit squeak and armor plates click together.

“It's getting late,” Dick yawns. He stands up from the sofa and heads to his and Wally’s shared room. “I'll see you in the morning. Night, kiddo.”

“Night, Dickie.” Jason mutters. Their bedroom door shuts.

Jason slams his laptop closed and slides it underneath his bed. Jason cuddles up in his blanket nest on the sofa. He lays his head peaceful and closes his eyes. The whole apartment is silent until he hears his phone go off. Jason reaches over to the coffee table and picks up his phone. He winces at the bright light as he turns the phone back on. He swears, his heart almost skips a beat when sees who's the text is from. Kyle.

‘I just wanted to say thanks for dinner tonight :)!!”

‘No problem :p it was a 20 piece from McDonald's,’ Jason replies.

**BEEP!**

Kyle texts back fast. ‘I'm getting paid next week and so I can pay you back soon!’

‘You don't have to pay me back. We’re friends now, that's what friends do’

‘At least let me take you out for lunch @ the Paul’s diner next week ?Friday? <3’ Kyle texts back again.

Jason sits up and looks at his phone. His thumb hovers above the send button, it's do or die. **Pull the trigger, Todd.**

The text sent.

‘I'm down. See you Friday’

Jason places his phone back on the coffee table and gets cozy in his blanket nest once again. He buries his face in the pillow Dick gave him. Jason doesn't think it’s normal for someone's heart to beat so fast and hard all of the sudden.

 

* * *

The rest of the week goes normally; at least, as normal as it gets for a fifteen year old vigilante. Jason’s stomach aches; the guilt of making Alfred worry makes his chest tight, and even the simple thought of Bruce makes it hard to breathe. He wonders if him and Bruce could make up after all this. He's never been more mad.

Soon it was the end of the week.

Jason takes a ride on the subway, crowded by old elderly women with hard candy and whimpering babies. Jason watched a young mother hold her baby like they're the only person in the world. He wonders if his mom ever looked at him like that when he was little.

Jason shakes the thought out of his head. He can't bear the heartache about his mom or moms. Sure, Katherine wasn't mom of the year but she was the only mom he knew for so long. He remembers watching his mother slowly crumble into a broken women with watered eyes. Restless nights, prompting his mother up in her bed and stroking her long hair, anxiously hoping she's fine. Stealing old bread from the bakery down the street from them, cutting around the moldy parts of the loaf.

The moment he found her dead, it crushed his spirit. Nothing good can happen for anyone in this cruel world, the rich stay corrupted and clowns run free after committing mass murders. Jason can feel his teeth grinding together.

The subway stops, everyone on board rushes out like a tsunami. Jason whispers a couple of swears under his breath as he’s being pushed into the middle of the crowd. He quickly catches himself and with force, pushes his way through crowd.

“Um, Sorry! Hey! Watch it!” Jason struggles pass the different faces of Gotham, barely able to even draw a breath.

He's **suffocating**.

The world starts to spin a bit and the crowd starts to slow down all around him. His crest is pounding like a grandfather clock ticking in the Manor. Everything is going too fast. He feels like he’s moving in water, he's going nowhere.

Jason finally catches his breath for a second. He leans the wall of train station with a shaky breath, head continuing to spin and sweat dripping off of him.

Fuck. He knew he should've of gotten here earlier.

Jason finally catches his breath, he rips off his backpack and starts shuffling through a bunch of junk inside. An old crumpled English essay stuffed at the bottom, a bottle of water, and his journal. He unzips the small pocket in the front of his backpack, pulling out the tangled up headphones. After wasting perfectly good time to get his ass to the dinner, he untangles his headphone, shoving the buds in his ears. If he just has his headphone in, even without music playing, then maybe no one will bother him on the walk to the diner. He liked the plan he formed. Jason stands up, fixing his clothes, trying to rub the possible wrinkles out of his button-ups.

He speed walks past citizens, hearing others question who he is. Jason’s eyes keep looking forward, never turning back or making eye contact with anyone in the crowd. He just wants to get out this crowded street already.

“HEY!” A voice shouts out from the crowd.

Jason turns and his jaw drops. Kyle Rayner comes running down the street towards him. He thought he wouldn't be here for an hour or two. Jason waits for him patiently as he watches this poor guy struggles to get out of the sea of people. Kyle finally slips out the hoard of people.

“Dang, you walk fast as heck.” Kyle said with heavy breath almost as if he was running marathon. Jason yanks out his headphones and shoves them into his jacket pocket. The headphone would have got tangled up again anyways. Jason smiles at Kyle as they begin to walk side by side to the diner.

 

* * *

It's doesn't take them long to arrive at Paul’sr. Their waitress quickly showed them to their booth, they both slide in.

“I’ll give you a minute to look at your menu.” The waitress places the menus on the table and works to another table.

After a couple minutes looking at the menu and some casual small talk, the waitress finally comes back. She takes out a pen and notepad. “So what can get for you two?” The waitress asks.

“I'll be having-” They both say in unison before their words coddle into a rambling mess. The waitress scrambles to write the two orders, only to stop in defeat as Jason and Kyle stop talking and look at each other embarrassingly.

“Um, Can you please repeat that?” The waitress, who clearly looks miserable, flashes a plastic smile at them. She balls up the first attempted order in her fist. She grinds her teeth, waiting for Jason take his order. Jason is definitely doubling her tip.

“I’ll get a milkshake, fries and hamburger.” He confirms. The waitress turns her head to look at Kyle. “I’ll get the same thing he's getting.” Kyle decides. They both hand their menus to the waitress. Not even a second after the waitress leaves, Jason pounces.

“You like dipping your fries in your milkshakes too?” He questions, his eyes light up like kid at the candy store.

“I like dipping my what in what?” Kyle blurts out, his eyes nearly bug out of his skull. He starts looking around like he's on an episode of punk’d. To no one’s surprise, Ashton Kutcher is nowhere to be found. Jason tries to hold back his laughter while he explains.

“Dipping your fries in your milkshake. How do you not know about dipping your fries into your milkshakes? I know new yorkers do it too, so there's no excuses for it!” Jason weakly gets it out through his laughter, his eyes begin to water. As hard as Jason tries, he can't help but to bursts out laughing. He finally can't keep it together anymore and starts hollering in the middle of the diner. Kyle tries to keep a poker face as Jason continues his laughter. Soon, Kyle can't help but to crack a smile at Jason's cute laugh. But finally Kyle completely cracks too, He and Kyle have a laughing fit together. Jason’s and Kyle's laughter begin to draw attention from other booths in the dinner, even the employees begin to pause and look at them. Kyle stops laughing for a second and forces on Jason’s face.

Kyle suddenly leans his whole body across the table. He stretches his hand out to touch Jason’s face. Kyle's thumb wipes something off of Jason's eye bags but a quick second later he brushes his thumb against Jason's cheek. Jason’s eyes flutter shut. “Sorry, there was uhh, eyelash on your cheek.” Kyle admits as he slowly takes his arm back, Jason’s eyes opens slowly. Kyle can feel himself getting lost in Jason's eyes, he quickly faces the window beside them avoiding his glare.

The waiter finally cuts the tension by bring over their steaming hot plates of hamburgers and baskets of fries. She leaves only for a second before coming back with chocolate milkshakes topped with whipped cream and a bright red cherry.

Jason, without hesitation, stuffs his face full of hamburger. Paul’s has one of the best hamburgers around, Jason’s sure as hell going to enjoy every bite of it. “Hey you have a little..on your..” Kyle awkwardly motions to Jason’s mustard mustache. Jason grabs a napkin and starts to wipe his mouth. He can feel his whole face heat up a bit.

“Thanks.” Jason whispered.

As lunch progresses, they talk and share more things about themselves to the other. Yeah, something's were kept under wraps. Mostly spandex with bulletproof Kevlar warps. That didn't stop Jason from growing a bit closer to the young man across from him

And Kyle realizing he does like milkshake dipped fries.

 

* * *

“I had a really great time.” Jason’s voice sweetens as he talks.

“Me too.” Kyle concludes. Kyle rubs the back of his neck as he walks Jason to his door. He knows how dangerous Blüdhaven is, even if it is the afternoon, so taking the train back with him just felt right.

They finally reach the steps of Dick’s apartment complex.

“Um, I'll see you around?” Kyle’s words suggest, coated in hope as he stops at the the first step.

“If I don't see you first.” Jason winks at him as he continues to walk up the stairs.

“Don't worry, I have 20/20 vision” Kyle chuckles, he begins to wave goodbye.

Jason let's out a soft breathless laugh. “Sure. See you around, Kyle.”

“See you later, Jason.” Kyle turns his back and starts walking off to the train station or maybe his house. Jason didn't question it, he twists the doorknob and pushes it opens.

The door softly clicks shut behind him.

“Sooo, how was your date?” Dick gushes from the kitchen.

“Shut up, Dick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next chapter!


	3. Summer rains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What else could Jason ask for? A summer job, a place he could call his own and his new blossoming friendship with Kyle Rayner? Well things just got even worse today when an unexpected guest shows up. Maybe today wasn't going to be completely bad.

Wally’s voice rings across the apartment “you need ten rooms and seven kitchens also four fireplaces. Everyone digs a fireplace.”

“Is that how Dick fell for you? Did you have four fireplaces when you met him?”Jason asks.

“I fell for his great sense of humor.” Dick says. All of them laughed including the realtor. They've spent most of the day looking for apartments since Jason wanted his own place and Dick was cool with him living close by to them and helping with bills.

Jason stands close by the air vent. A cold breeze hits his face as Dick and Wally talk to the realtor for what seems like a lifetime. The ven crackles or maybe taps? Jason didn’t really bother to question it as he wipes the sweat from his forehead. The hot summer days have been fastly approaching, Jason couldn't help but to smile at the thought of school finally being over. The liberians are even allowing him to work full time during the summer! What else could he ask for? A summer job, a place he could call his own and his new blossoming friendship with Kyle Rayner.

Suddenly, Jason feels himself tensioning up. He knew he was going to regret this. He begrudgingly takes one step forward

A rat runs across Jason’s feet and to the middle of empty living room floor. Neither of the four men in the room could contain their fear.

“HOLY CRAP.”

Blood curdling screams echo across Blüdhaven.

“Thank you for your time, Mr.Jonas. We’ll think about it.” Dick says, he wraps his arm around Jason’s shoulders and squeezes tightly. Jason nearly jumps at the sudden touch. God, He hates rats.

Rats, giant disease carrying fur balls. He was a rat. Cold nights in the rain, scavenging for food in the dumpster at seven years old. Rich garbage passing him as he struggled, calling him a rat. All throughout school, his classmates would say things about him when he wasn't looking. There was a one repeating trend. It's was always rat.

Once a rat, always a rat.

Wally gives him a little shake, Jason finally snaps out of his daze. He didn't even realize they were in front of Dick’s car. “Hey? Let's take a break huh?” Wally says. Jason gives him a soft smile and nods, blinking back a tear.

* * *

  
The car ride back home was quiet. Not the ' _everyone's tired and to exhaust to speak_ ' quiet but the ' _there's a giant elephant in the room and no one wants to bring it up_ ' quiet. It was kinda weird seeing Wally so silent. Everyone was either looking out beyond the car or glued to their phones.

Soon, Dick stops the car.

"I need to fill up the tank," Dick says while unbuckling his seatbelt. He reaches over to open the driver's door but Wally reaches over and places his hand on Dick's.

"I got this, handsome." He gives Dick a smooch on his lips, unbuckles his seatbelt and slides out the car. Jason watches Wally walk further and further away from the car and walk into the gas station.

Now, It was just him and his big brother. It was quiet for a bit. Until it wasn't.

"Jason ?" Dick asks. He says his name like he's isn't actually there with him, like he's not even in the car.

"Yeah." Jason's voice sounds flat and emotionless. He doesn't look at Dick, he keeps looking out the window. God, he wonders where this conversation is going.

"You okay?" Dick asks him.

"Yeah." Jason repeats.

"That's a load of shit." Dick finally admits.

Jason almost choked right there. Yeah, he's heard Dick swear before but that came out of nowhere. Jason finally looks at Dick, who’s sloughing in his seat with his eyes shut.

"What?" Jason says in shock.

"You heard me, that's a load of shit. Stop blocking everyone around you out for ten minutes, Jason. What's wrong?" Dick retorts.

“I’m thinking about that rat we saw. People at school, they used to call me a rat.” Jason admits.

“Did Bru-?” Dick begins to ask but Jason erupts him.

“Yeah, it didn't stop people from talking. Don't get me started on the pity parties my teachers would throw for me if did something correctly, that just made everything worse.”Jason says. "And Bruce? He's just been suffocating me ever since..." Jason's voice grew quiet. He looks down at his hands and arms, looking at the long twisted scars, mostly faded but still there. It's going to be almost two years soon.

"So, He gave me two options, homeschool or have a nurse walk with me everywhere I go. It was so suffocating, I pretty much had to switch to homeschool if I wanted the hourly calls to stop." Jason complains.

"Well y’know B is...B." Dick says. He remembers how much of a mess he was when he found Jason.

"Did Bruce ever tell you how I ditched my nurse?" Jason asks, a small smirk appears on his face.

"You ditch your nurse? Where did you even go?" Dick nearly jumps out his seat as he began to giggle.

"Well, the Library." Jason shrugs and smiles.

They both laugh.

"Hey, Dick? Thanks for listening." Jason whispers, he can feel tears welling up. Dick turns to the backseat and pulls Jason into a big hug. It feels like Dick is trying to shove him into his entire chest cavity from how powerful his hug is. Jason returns his hug, patting Dick's back.

Dick finally let’s go of Jason and looks at him. "We're brothers, you can always come talk to me." Dick concludes.

“By the way, Dickie. If you had to pick a car, why pick the ugliest one on the lot? I get that it matches your wardrobe bu-” Jason criticizes.

“Don't. Finish. That. Sentence.” Dick says before he starts laughing again. Jason can't help but to laugh with Dick.

Soon, Jason hears tapping against the car window. Jason turns his head and waves at Wally, who’s filling up the gas tank.

This day wasn't going to be completely bad.  
  
The guys walk up to Dick and Wally's shared apartment. Dick unlocks the front door and pushes it open. Suddenly, the air turns stale and everything feels heavy. Jason doesn't move, he looks at Dick as if he trying to see if he felt that feeling too. Dick looks at him and nods. Something, someone, is in this apartment and definitely shouldn't be.

Dick grabs Wally’s hands before he walks in and alert the intruder. Wally looks at Dick confusingly and squeezes his hand back. It doesn't take him long to realize what's going down. Wally’s smiling face drops, he goes completely stone faced. Whoever this is, they picked the wrong house to break into.

Dick quietly stretches from the front door to the umbrella stand in the corner. He yanks out two escrima sticks and grins happily. This situation has totally happened to him before Jason thought. Damn, his brother’s a dork. Wally tights his shoelaces and gets in a running stance. Not only is his brother a dork but so is his brother-in-law.

Jason takes off his backpack and starts digging around. He knew he threw it in here, somewhere. Finally, he pulls out his utility belt. Dick stares at him with his mouth hung wide open, looks half shocked but fully impressed at Jason. He wasn't someone to be caught with his pants down in these types of situations, Bruce taught him too well to be. Jason looks at disappointingly at his belt, He's really scraping the bottom of the barrel with with batarangs and gas pallets. Despite that, he puts on the belt. If Dick and Wally are going in look like dorks, he’ll got out looking like a dork with them.

They charging in head first. Jason picks up a desk lamp and throws it towards the intruder. The lamp slams against the wall. The intruder dodged it.

Dick runs up to the the intruder and hooks them. Every punch Dick threw soon after, the intruder blocks them effortlessly. The intruder grabs Dick by the arm and threw him directly into Wally. They both collide and crash into a wall.

Jason runs towards the intruder at full force.

Jason kicks the intruder into a chair. The kick overpowers them. When they fall into chair, it smashes to bits. The intruder grunts as they try to get back up to fight. Jason deals out a sidekick, he stomps his foot on the intruder's chest, stopping them from getting back up to fight.

Dick and Wally look at him with horror.

"Jason." Bruce looked up at him in distress. Jason quickly grabs Bruce's arm and helps him up.

"Um, hey B? What are you doing here? Dick says, he helps both him and Wally get up. Jason knew what he really meant. 'Hey, B? why did you break into my apartment like you couldn't call before hand or waited at the front door.'

"I just wanted to come and talk to you, Jason." Bruce says and looks Jason, who moved next to Dick and Wally.

"About what? You already fired me, what more do you want ? No, better question, how did you find me ?" Jason hissed.

"You know the watch you're wearing, the one I got for your birthday? It has a tracker i-" Before Bruce could finish, Jason rips the watch off and pushes it into Bruce's hand.

"I'm sorry, I need to be excused." Jason turns away and rushes towards the bathroom.

"Jason," he didn't know who said that, it really didn't matter.

Jason slams the guest bathroom door shut and slides to the floor. He feels fucking sick to his stomach and his chest grew heavy. He leans his head back and shuts his eyes and tries to think of a color to focus on and steady his breath.

God, this is a fucking nightmare. He decides that now is a good time to waltz back in like nothing ever happened? He decides now that he's going to wrap him back up in a security blanket and baby him again? After all that's happened?

His chest is pounding.

Stop thinking about it.  
Stop thinking about it.  
Stop thinking about it.

Sweat continues to slide down Jason's face along with a few tears. Jason accidentally kicks the trash tin over as he gets up and climbs into the bathtub. He sits down and pulls the curtain back behind him, he pulls his phone out his pocket. His fingers shakes a bit while he scrolls through his contacts.

He finally finds who needs. The phone rings for a while until he finally picks up. He whispers across the phone and then quickly hangs up. He shoves the phone back into his pocket. He gets out the bathtub. he gets on top of the closed lid toilet and opens the window above it.

Screw this.

Jason climbs out the window.

* * *

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

Kyle runs to his door, he hopes it's him. He quickly swings up the door.

Jason smiles at him awkwardly. His hair spiked a bit but not enough that he looks like a character from Dragon Ball, but spiked enough that it looks fluffy. The hoodie he's wearing looks a kinda big on him but that doesn't matter.

Kyle takes both of Jason's hands into his and squeezes tightly. Jason looks at him softly with puffy eyes and smiles back.

"Hey." Jason whispers softly.

"I'm guessing it's been a pretty bad day for you, huh?" Kyle says.

"Mhm? Pretty bad? More like extremely terrible." Jason confesses, he squeezes Kyle's hands back. Kyle invites Jason into his apartment. It's a normal studio apartment with textbooks thrown across the kitchen counter and art supplies all over the floor.

"Nice place." Jason says. He leaps on to Kyle's couch with a huff.

"Thanks, the rent is pretty tight but it's pretty close to the school campus." Kyle admits. Jason almost forgot that his first semester in collage is coming up after the summer ends. even though he's graduating a bit late than his class, It's only feels like yesterday since he's started high school.

"So how's your dad doing?" Kyle asks while joining Jason the couch

"My whom ?!" Jason looks at him, shocked at his question.

"That guy I saw when came over to hang out." Kyle says.

"Oh him? That's not my dad, that's my brother." Jason answers. Kyle's only been over once and that was when Dick was about to heading out. Jason beams at the thought of someone thinking Dick looks old enough to be mistake for his dad. He's only like twenty-something.

"My brother looks and acts completely different from my dad. My dad's more um..." Jason couldn't really think of any positive things about Bruce at the moment. Honestly he doesn't even really call Bruce his dad often. "He's not really a super great dad but he's there." Jason says.

"Oh," Kyle voices trails off, he looks off to somewhere else.

"I'm guessing you're not close with your dad either." Jason says while reaching over to Kyle's coffee table to picks up a picture of a younger Kyle and his mom. Jason passes the picture to Kyle, who looks down at the picture lovingly.

"My dad wasn't really around, he kinda left to go to the military and just never came back." Kyle says, his thumb rubs against the picture frame.

I'm so sorry, Kyle." Jason says.

It's okay, I have a great mom anyway." Kyle states. Jason tries not to think about his mom when Kyle says that.

"On a lighter note, do you know what you're majoring in? I know you're graduating late, so have all the time in the word." Kyle says while putting the picture down and walks into his very small kitchen.

"Pizza?" Kyle lifts up the cardboard box. Jason shakes his head yes. All that climbing took a lot out of him. Kyle walks back over with two paper plates with a slice of pizza on each. Jason takes his plate and places it in his lap.

"I don't know, my dad probably wants to major in business or something." Jason sighs.

"Well, what do you want?" Kyle asks before taking a bite out of his pizza.

Jason pauses for a second. He puts his slice of pizza down and thinks long and hard. No one has asked him that before.

"Kyle, you can't tell anyone about this. Ever. Cross your heart, cross your heart right now." Jason says. Kyle, drops his pizza on his plate and crosses his heart. Kyle looked at him with wonder.

"I really want to be a writer. I want to write a best seller and have other people read my stories." Jason confesses.

"Jay, I totally think you could be an amazing writer. Kyle's words ooze with enthusiasm.

They both stay up and talk all night. The convo switches between their favorite shows to book recommendations to embarrassing highschool stories. They talk for what seemed like years. Jason never wants this to end. It was almost past midnight, Kyle offers him a spot on his couch for night. Jason agrees to his kind offer and changes into some pajamas Kyle handed him.

They both pull out the sofa bed and gather some blankets and pillows. The two slide under Kyle's comforter, rain begins to fall as Jason's eyes grew heavy. His heart aches as Kyle curls his fingers with his. His eyes flutter shut as all his problems melt away for a minute.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> See you next chapter!


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